Leo Hendrik Baekeland (1909 - 1910), was born on November 14,
1863 in Gent, Belgium. He received a B.S. from Ghent University and a
Sc.D. from the same school in 1884. The University of Pittsburgh
conferred him with an Honorary Doctor of Chemistry in 1916. Dr.
Baekeland was an Assistant Professor of Chemistry from 1885 to 1889;
Associate Professor 1888-89 at Ghent. He was also Professor of Chemistry
and Physics of the Higher Normal School at Bruges from 1885 to 1889. he
came to the United States in 1889 and worked as a consulting chemist to
1899. He became a Research Chemist and Honorary Professor of Chemical
Engineering at Columbia University, 1899 to 1916. His research work
included physical, general, industrial, and organic chemistry; synthesis
of resinoids and intermediate bodies resulting from the action of
phenols upon formaldehyde; photographic processes; electrical
insulation; Velox; and Bakelite.
One of Dr. Baekeland's inventions made the news in 1995. The heat shield on the 1995 Jupiter probe was a phenolic resin based on phenol and formaldehyde. The first phenolic resin, Bakelite, often used in pot handles, was invented in 1909 by Leo Hendrik Baekeland the same year he was President.
